doodle by andre: gardener’s best friend

Share this:

AT EVERY LECTURE I GIVE (and often in comments here, too), I’m asked: “What can I use to get rid of garden ‘bugs’?” My advice: Don’t waste money on something in a spray bottle, but shop instead for plants that attract bug-hungry birds, to make a garden that’s hospitable to them (including a water feature that remains unfrozen all 365 days, or at least a seasonal one). Don’t kill off critical soil life with chemical fertilizers or nasty weed-and-feed, either. Love your soil, and nurture that precious bottom of the food chain, where all the little guys who are our checks-and-balance system of life reside. My 101 on making a bird garden, plus some garden-sanitation tips (as good in spring as fall). The real “news,” as doodler Andre Jordan well knows: Birds (and frogs, and snakes) are environmentally friendly.

I have Mockingbirds, Cardinals and Bluebirds constantly in my garden, but they don’t seem to be able to control the squash bug population. I do pick them off by hand and I am sad to say I have resorted to chemicals when my entire crop of squash, cucumbers and other cucurbits faced imminent danger. I am very careful and lift the plant up to only get the powder on the ground, but I would rather not use it at all. I have perfect habitats for birds, but I will add water for them and more nesting boxes to see if that helps.

I have to admit that I love being in my garden listening to the mockingbirds singing to me. I have a feeling if they put words to their songs they would be, “why are you still in our garden? You finished weeding hours ago. Please leave. We are hungry.” :)

Hi there Margaret,
Happy Day Light Savings Time to you…Now we have an extra hour to start the Spring Clean-up, as soon as the Snow goes away. I’ve already trimmed 6 big bags of branches, and put up three Easter Egg bushes down by the road to welcome Spring. Glad Winter is almost over, and in the blink of an eye, it will be time to cut the lawns again;-{
Fred

SEARCH ANY TOPIC

Quotes

Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but
cabbage with a college education.

—Mark Twain

Welcome! I’m Margaret Roach, a leading garden writer for 25 years—at ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ ‘Newsday,’ and in three books. I host a public-radio podcast; I also lecture, plus hold tours at my 2.3-acre Hudson Valley (NY) Zone 5B garden, and always say no to chemicals and yes to great plants.